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CybExer Technologies, a NATO-awarded Estonian cybersecurity company, is to commit €1.3 million to a research project that will explore the resilience of smart city mobility solutions using cyber range technology.

The project will be part funded by a €900,000+ grant secured via Enterprise Estonia’s Applied Research Programme, which supports the knowledge-intensive product and technology development of Estonian companies. A total of 27 projects totalling €18.9m were awarded grants in the third round of the initiative.

CybExer will commit an additional €300,000+ towards the project, “Applied research on cyber security of smart city mobility solutions based on cyber range technology”, which aims to research the resilience of smart city mobility solutions using cyber range technology in order to protect cities and civilian infrastructure against cyber disruptions.

The security goals of a smart city should be grounded on both the objectives of traditional IT to secure data as well as those of OT to ensure safety and resiliency of systems and processes. Cyber Range technology comes into play to create and study the virtual models of smart city devices and the implications of their interconnectivity. 

 “A successful application of smart city elements requires very high-level knowledge of cyber threats and vulnerability surfaces,” says Kristiina Omri, CybExer Technologies director of special programmes.

“In this project we will research the cybersecurity interdependencies of smart city mobility solutions and bring geospatial information to cyber ranges for a better understanding and management of smart cities. We are very open to further collaboration on cyber security with cities and municipalities,” Omri adds. 

With this milestone, CybExer Technologies is paving the way for a dedicated partnership with cities, municipalities, and developers of smart city solutions to increase cyber security resilience. This specific partnership entails cyber range-based trainings, exercises, tools for situational awareness and testing of smart city solutions. 

“Estonian companies are in global competition, and in the current situation where input prices and salary expectations are rising, knowledge-intensive development work is central to helping our companies be successful,” says minister of entrepreneurship and information technology, Kristjan Jarvan. “It is also important that our companies move up the value chain and, thanks to this, the added value they produce increases. At the same time, this stage of applied research is the riskiest, also called the ‘valley of death’ of development, because the investments are large and there is no certainty of success. It is the state’s responsibility to help entrepreneurs in this regard and to bear some of the risks.” 

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